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Ambrosia
Ambrosia (Greek ἀμβροσία, meaning "immortality") is a food, or sometimes a drink, that confers either longevity or immortality upon consumption, a practice typically reserved for divine beings. Although the word is commonly found in Greek Mythology, such as ambrosia being delivered to the Olympians by doves,Homer, Odyssey xii.62 its equivalent is also in Hindu mythology as , and its concept for immortality has far reaching ancient roots. Etymology In an earlier attestation of the concept for immortality food or drink, from , is the word अमृत (amṛta), from which the Greek ἀμβροσία (ambrosia) may have derived or been influenced by. In Hinduism, Amrta denotes a drink or food that gods use to achieve immortality. The term appears to derive from the Indo-European form *''ṇ-mṛ-tós'', meaning "un-dying" Mallory also connects to this root an Avestan word, and notes that the root is "dialectally restricted to the IE southeast". (n-'': negative prefix from which the prefix ''a-'' in both Greek and Sanskrit are derived; ''mṛ: zero grade of *''mer-'', "to die"; and ''-to-'': adjectival suffix). A semantically similar etymology exists for nectar, the beverage of the gods (Greek: νέκταρ néktar) presumed to be a compound of the PIE roots *nek-'', "death", and ''-*tar, "overcoming". ;Nectar, the drink In Greek mythology, ambrosia is closely related to another substance, the nectar of the gods. Although, their uses may have been literarily interchangeable,"Attempts to draw any significant distinctions between the functions of nectar and ambrosia have failed." Clay, p. 114. the depictions in Homer's poems of nectar is usually the drink, and ambrosia the food of the gods; it was with ambrosia that Hera "cleansed all defilement from her lovely flesh".Homer, Iliad xiv.170 ;Ambrosia, the food An ancient Egyptian statue of Anubis reads,"...I am death...I eat ambrosia and drink blood..." which hints that ambrosia is a food of some sort. Infant consumption “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.”—Genesis 6:11-13 NASB |} Because ambrosia has been described as a "delightful liquid", later writers have attempted to identify it as: a sauce of oil, water, fruit juice, a medicinal draught, "sea-dew", rosemary"Ambrosia" in Chambers's Encyclopædia. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 315., the hallucinogenic mushroom "it was the food of the gods, their ambrosia, and nectar was the pressed sap of its juices"—Carl A.P. Ruck and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth 1994:26., or a kind of bee-honey, and even —a food given by YHVH to the Israelites. Ambrosia's allusive identity doesn't preclude a very ancient and prominent ritual of —the intent to gain immortality, as gleaned from the myths of ancient Sumer. In the influential Sumerian myth of Kiskil-lilla, (the later Semitic Lilith demon) she is described as a mother who devours her children in order that she may live forever. Another Sumerian myth warns of Lamashtu who is said to feed on the blood of human infants. The ancient cult practice of consuming the pure blood of infants, allegedly performed by secret societies,Medium, The Supernatural Science of Immortality...You Tube, Bohemian club scandals has notably found its way in modern science through blood transfusion techniques.The Guardian, Can we reverse the ageing process by putting young blood into older people?, by Ian Sample,Tue 4 Aug 2015 01.00 EDT In Monterey, California, a private clinic led by Jesse Karmazin, is pumping blood plasma from teenagers and young adults, to be sold and transfused into older generation clients. The 2016 startup company is called Ambrosia.MIT Technology Review, Questionable “Young Blood” Transfusions Offered in U.S. as Anti-Aging Remedy, by Amy Maxmen January 13, 2017 See also * Quest for immortality References Category:Antediluvian Category:Greek Mythology Category:Egyptian Mythology Category:Sumerian Mythology Category:Hindu Mythology